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Health Dictionary

Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.

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Stippling (dentistry)

Introduction

Overview

Overview

Photograph of the upper left quandrant, showing teeth #4-8, with a DO amalgam on #5. The stippled surface texture of the attached gingiva can be observed. Note how there is no stippling on the marginal gingiva, which is the millimeter or so of gingiva immediately adjacent to the teeth. Click on this photo to see the stippling in greater detail.

The gingiva often possess a textured surface that is referred to as being stippled.[1] Stippling only presents on the attached gingiva bound to underlying alveolar bone, not the freely moveable alveolar mucosa. Stippling used to be thought to indicate health, but it has since been shown that smooth gingiva is not an indication of disease, unless it is smooth due to a loss of previously existing stippling.

Stippling is a consequence of the microscopic elevations and depressions of the surface of the gingival tissue due to the connective tissue projections within the tissue.[2] “The degree of keratinization and the prominence of stippling appear to be related.”[3]

References

References

  1. ↑ Carranza’s Clinical Periodontology, 9th Ed., W.B. Saunders, 2002, page 30.
  2. ↑ Carranza’s Clinical Periodontology, 9th Ed., W.B. Saunders, 2002, page 30.
  3. ↑ Carranza’s Clinical Periodontology, 9th Ed., W.B. Saunders, 2002, page 30.

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]